The lamp-posts are poetical...the lamp-post really has the whole poetry of man, for no other creature can lift a flame so high and guard it so well. --G K Chesterton, London Times July 24, 1909.

"As she stood looking at it, wondering why there was a lamp-post in the middle of a wood and wondering what to do next, she heard a pitter patter of feet coming toward her..." (C S Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia)

Monday, September 22, 2008

A Travellers Choice

A message for you traveler who’s not traveled so long
Some tidings I bring you, and present them in song
Soon the road takes a turn, and the turn grants a fork
You will need choose a path, a difficult work

You may choose the direction that is journeyed by most
You’ll find plenty of company, ‘A fine path’ they all boast
Or instead you may choose the path overgrown
Rare will be company, you shall go mostly alone

But a word I must give you, I advise you to heed
The outcome of the paths and the direction you lead
Young lad please consider, think carefully with haste
For one is toward life, and the other toward waste

If you choose the direction, where most have tread feet
The passage will be broad, it will be steady and mete
You’ll face little challenge and the adventure will be ease
Flattering tongues and wise men, will be not in the least:

“The journey you’ve set on, and now just begun
Will face good times many, in not long we’ll be done
There’ll be merriment and gladness and smiles to grin
There’ll be laughter and happiness and plenty of sin”

“The path is long approved, so join in the feast
Take life easy and lightly, let us revel like beasts!
Here take a drink and some meat, then a maiden or two
Soon we will be at journey’s end, and all will be through”

Little do they know that their way leads to sure death
They come closer and closer, as they draw each blind breath
There is anguish that way, I dare not speak of their fate
For O how wide is that road, and how broad is that gate!

But if you should choose the path so less often tread
The journey will be difficult and much harder to stead
There you shall find twists and there you shall find turns
No doubt there will be wounds and cuts and bruises and burns

You may find a friend, who will be more like a brother
As you stumble and tire, you must hold up each other
He will not flatter you, and you must speak truth to him back
You shall protect one another, and defend from attack

The journey will seem long, and the sun less often seen
You’ll get dirty and cold, and you’ll wish to be clean
Don’t misunderstand me, joy and contentment descend
But it comes down mostly, when fixing both eyes on the end

Then young lad don’t despair, don’t let your courage diminish
With each step you draw closer, with each breath towards the finish
And there you’ll find Him welcoming, to your Eternal abode
Through the small gate, at the end of the long narrow road